Tour Heads To The Mountains After A Day Off

Monday was a day of rest for the Tour de France riders -- and they needed it, because on Tuesday the Tour has its first very difficult mountain stage. On stage 10, the race enters the Pyrenees. The 167 kilometer course has three category 4 climbs, and then finishes with a climb so difficult that it is unrated. This stage should shake up the standings, and let us know who the true contenders are in this year's race.

The photo is of Tejay Van Garderen of the United States. He is currently in second place -- 12 seconds behind Christopher Froome of Great Britain. Van Garderen is a good climber, and has a strong team (BMC Racing) -- and has the best chance of any American in the Tour this year.

Here are the standings going into stage 10:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Leaders)
1. Christopher Froome, Great Britain (Team Sky)
2. Tejay Van Garderen, United States (BMC Racing)..........12"
3. Greg Van Avermaet, Belgium (BMC Racing)..........27"
4. Peter Sagan, Slovakia (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........38"
5. Alberto Contador, Spain (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........1' 03"
6. Rigiberto Uran Uran, Colombia (ETIXX-Quick Step)..........1' 18"
7. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte, Spain (Movistar)..........1' 50"
8. Geraint Thomas, Great Britain (Team Sky)..........1' 52"
9. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas, Colombia (Movistar)..........1' 59"
10. Zdenek Stybar, Czech Republic (ETIXX-Quick Step)..........1' 59"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinter)
1. Peter Sagan, Slovakia (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........213 pts
2. Andre Greipel, Germany (Lotto-Soudal)..........210 pts
3. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (ETIXX-Quick Step)..........159 pts
4. John Degenkolb, Germany (Giant-Alpecin)..........158 pts
5. Bryan Coquard, Francee (Europcar)..........102 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climber)
1. Daniel Teklehaimanot, Eritrea (MTN-Qhubeka)..........4 pts
2. Joachim Rodriguez Oliver, Spain (Team Katusha)..........2 pts
3. Alexis Vuillermoz, France (AG2R La Mondiale)..........2 pts
4. Michael Schar, Switzerland (BMC Racing)..........1 pt
5. Romain Sicard, France (Team Europcar)..........1 pt
6. Rafal Majka, Poland (Tinkoff-Saxo)..........1 pt
7. Thomas De Gendt, Belgium (Lotto-Soudal)..........1 pt
8. Christopher Froome, Great Britain (Team Sky)..........1 pt
9. Daniel Martin, France (Cannondale-Garmin)..........1 pt

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Rider)
1. Peter Sagan, Slovakia (Tinkoff-Saxo)
2. Nairo Alenander Quintano Rojas, Columbia (Movistar)..........1' 21"
3. Warren Barguil, France (Giant-Alpecin)..........2' 05"

TEAM LEADERS
1. BMC Racing (United States)
2. Tinkoff-Saxo (Russia).........4' 04"
3. ETIXX-Quick Step (Belgium)..........7' 28"
4. Team Sky (Great Britain)..........7' 30" 
5. Movistar (Spain)..........7' 47"